Rutherford County liquor stores moving 'heaven and earth' to open on Sunday

Governor Bill Haslam signs law to allow wine and liquor sales on Sunday, a move that could spur opposition from the state's liquor retailers
Michael Schwab

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Ted Robinson the co-owner and manager of Murfreesboro Wine & Spirits bags a customer's order on Friday, April 20, 2018, This store will be open Sunday from 10 am to 10 pm after Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill on Friday, April 20, 2018, allowing wine and liquor sales Sundays. (Photo: HELEN COMER/DNJ)Buy Photo

"You don’t create new drinkers by creating new hours, new places to sell," Ted Robinson, owner of Murfreesboro Wine and Spirits, said. "People who haven’t been drinkers aren’t going to start drinking because you’re open on Sundays."

Robinson plans to "move heaven and earth" to get staff in order to open this Sunday, April 22. Other stores may not be able to make the change happen that quickly.

Addison Gilbert checks out wine for a customer at Murfreesboro Wine & Spirits in Murfreesboro. This store is one of many that will be open this Sunday from 10 am to 10 pm after Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill on Friday, April 20, 2018, allowing wine and liquor sales Sundays. (Photo: HELEN COMER/DNJ)

Local legislation

Senator Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, led the bill and carried the previously-passed measure to allow wine in grocery stores.

"This is a 'may' bill as opposed to a 'shall,' so for those business owners, it’s not a mandate. They can choose not to be open just like Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby choose not to be open," Ketron said Friday afternoon.

Initial polls indicated 70 percent of Tennessee citizens were in support of the bill statewide, according to Ketron.

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Murfreesboro Wine & Spirits will be one of the stores open this Sunday from 10 am to 10 pm. Photo taken on Friday, April 20, 2018.(Photo: HELEN COMER/DNJ)

Retailers get a "head start" on sales — grocery stores have to wait until 2019 to sell wine on Sundays.

The head start was “just part of negotiations,” Ketron said.

"Retailers wanted the opportunity to re-educate their customer base to let them know they are going to be open seven days a week, and the grocery stores were willing to go along with that," he said.

Quick turnaround

Governor Bill Haslam signed the law allowing the change on Friday morning, according to his office. Many local liquor stores plan to open Sundays as soon as possible, but that may not be as soon as this weekend.

"I know my competition is gonna be open, so I have to. For the best for my business, I have to open," Shirley Hasan, owner of Smyrna's Divine Wine and Spirits said. "I'm excited, but not excited. It's bittersweet."

Divine Wine and Spirits will be open on April 22 from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Hasan said she was not sure those would be the store's permanent Sunday hours.

Ketron said his research showed shopping demographics have changed, and families are more likely to do their big shops on Sundays now, instead of Saturdays.

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Ted Robinson the co-owner and manager of Murfreesboro Wine & Spirits holds a sign showing that they will be one of the stores open this Sunday from 10 am to 10 pm after Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill on Friday, April 20, 2018, allowing wine and liquor sales Sundays. (Photo: HELEN COMER/DNJ)

"Families want to spend more time on Saturday going to t-ball, the lake, going to wherever, and they use Sundays to plan their week, buy their food—along with a bottle of wine," he said.

Used to be a day of rest

"That was my day of rest, my day to dedicate to God, so I'm not extremely happy about it, but I understand," Hasan said. "Tennessee is about 20 years behind times."

The store owners said they were happy they could provide another day to sell to their customers, but at least one worried they would barely make enough additional sales that day to cover the overhead of opening.

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Murfreesboro Wine & Spirits will be one of the stores open this Sunday from 10 am to 10 pm. Photo taken on Friday, April 20, 2018.(Photo: HELEN COMER/DNJ)

The new law requires liquor stores to mark up spirits by 10 percent and wine by 20 percent, which may offset that worry.

"I think it’s filling a gap for small business owners," Ketron said. "(The law) also removes the government from dictating to the small business owner when they can sell their product."

For the consumers?

"Some customers are excited, some are not. It's mixed reviews," said Scotty Tomes, store manager or Old Fort Liquor & Wine in Murfreesboro.

Some store managers, like Tomes, are waiting for more confirmation before planning to open Sundays.